The present disclosure relates to medical fluid treatment and in particular to the prevention and removal of air from a patient's peritoneal cavity.
One problem that patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (“PD”) treatment or a laparoscopic procedure can encounter is air becoming trapped in the patient's peritoneal cavity or pneumoperitoneum. Introduction of air into the patient's peritoneal cavity can cause pain. The gas can exert pressure on the patient's diaphragm and affect breathing. The air or gas pressure can also exert pressure on the patient's phreuic nerve, which produces a sensation of pain that may extend all the way to the patient's shoulders.
One source of air entering the patient is air from solution bag lines. The air becomes trapped in the solution bag lines (sometimes called pigtails), for example, during manufacture, shipping or upon connection of the lines for treatment. If the solution bag lines are not purged properly, the trapped air can enter the patient. This is especially true for longer pigtail or solution bag lines. A first need accordingly exists to prevent air from becoming trapped in the patient line during manufacture or therapy setup.
When the patient does experience air trapped in his/her peritoneal cavity, current practice is to wait for the gas to be absorbed by the patient's body. Such procedure can take a number of days depending on the amount of air that needs to be absorbed. Another need therefore exists for quickly removing air from the patient's peritoneal cavity when such situation does occur, so that the patient does not have to wait for his/her body to absorb the air volume.